VGC praises the game's looks but says it lacks teeth; Push Square calls it a perfectly fine Metroidvania.
VGC calls Belmont's Curse the first new 2D Castlevania entry in 13 years and gives it three stars, saying the bar has risen during the series' absence. Push Square's PS5 review calls the return a “perfectly fine Metroidvania.”
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Castlevania: Belmont's Curse arrives Oct. 15 on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch and PC. It is the series' first new side-scrolling entry in 13 years. Developed by Evil Empire, the game puts players in control of Rose Belmont as she and her father, Trevor, enter a demon-overrun Paris and eventually Dracula's castle.
The familiar structure is intact: Rose explores an interconnected map, defeats bosses to unlock traversal abilities and revisits old areas to uncover new paths. Weapons, relics and tarot cards expand her combat options, while each captured card grants a spell and a set of upgrade challenges.
The three attached reviews broadly agree that Belmont's Curse looks excellent, but differ sharply on how well it plays. Game Informer gave it 9.25 out of 10, praising Rose's mobility, six weapon categories, flexible card system, tough but manageable fights and rewarding exploration. Its reviewer finished at 92% completion after 16 hours and wanted to return for the remaining secrets.
Push Square's 7 out of 10 review also praised the art, animation and pull of filling out the map. It found the structure predictable, however, and said sluggish movement and uneven boss difficulty sometimes made the game frustrating.
VGC awarded 3 out of 5. It admired the presentation and soundtrack, but argued that the combat, map and progression feel too safe after more than a decade of evolution elsewhere in the genre. The divide leaves the comeback looking less like a question of quality than one of expectations: a polished return for some critics, and a series playing catch-up for others.
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